Mario finds his way to Minecraft

Have you ever thought about what Mario would look like in Minecraft? Well, wonder no more! Nintendo teamed up with Mojang and 4J Studios to bring our favourite plumber to the blocky world.

17-05-2016 – by Thijs Kaagman

Nintendo has always been really strict with their own IP’s and franchises. You could really only play Mario and Donkey Kong on Nintendo’s own consoles and handhelds. Okay, there was some weird stuff going on in the 90’s, but we’re just going to pretend Zelda CD-i never happened. But Ninty is expanding into new territories lately, with the Miitomo app on iOS and Android and apps for Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing on their way as well.

Of course we already saw Solid Snake, Mega-man and Sonic in Super Smash’s otherwise Nintendo-filled line-up. And their own characters are stepping out to other games as well, with Mario making an appearance in Minecraft Wii U in a free Wii U-exclusive update today.

Nintendo teamed up with Minecraft’s original developer Mojang and 4J Studios, the company that brought the games to the consoles. At its core the update contains 40 player skins and a whole bunch of textures, to transform yourself into instantly recognizable Mario characters and your Minecraft home into a colourful Mario world.

It’s not just any regular texture pack, though. There’s also a prebuilt world that showcases pretty much everything the update has to offer. Exploring this world, you will come across a Minecraft version of Super Mario 64’s castle, Delfino Island from Super Mario Sunshine and Bowser has created a space for himself in The Nether.

A free update of this magnitude is impressive, but it’s the implication that this could happen to other games that is really exciting. Think about what Zelda’s Hyrule could look like in Minecraft, or – dare we say it – a Pokémon Minecraft world! And we can only dream about which other games could cross over with our favourite Nintendo franchises.

The Super Mario Mash-Up Pack is now available for free through the Nintendo eShop. You need the complete Minecraft game to play it, which you can also find in the eShop. Get your Nintendo eShop credits at Startselect!